CHENNAI: Madhya Pradesh cricket witnessed many highs in the past few years. Be it their maiden Ranji Trophy title (2021-22) or the 2024-25 Senior Women's One-Day crown or the U23 Women's trophy for the 2023-24 season. The senior men's team also finished runners-up in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2024-25 season and reached Ranji knockouts twice. The Madhya Pradesh players added yet another glittering trophy to their cabinet when they won their first U19 Cooch Behar (Elite) title a few days back.
And it will not be an exaggeration to say things started moving in the right direction since Chandrakant Pandit, former India wicketkeeper, took over as the head coach in 2020. He might not be with the U19 team when they defeated Gujarat in Valsad to lift the Cooch Behar Trophy but he was the guiding force behind every move the players and management made.
Yashbardhan Singh Chauhan, the spin-bowling all-rounder, claimed eight wickets in the final to swing the match in MP's favour and was deservingly adjudged Player of the Final. He scored a total of 550 runs from eight matches in the tournament apart from topping the bowling chart by scalping 57 wickets. The performance won him the Player of the Series award as well.
Anami Singh Chauhan, Yashbardhan's father, credited Pandit for the team and his son's success in the tournament. "He was not with the team as he was busy with the senior side but he made sure he stayed in touch and helped his wards out in need," Chauhan told this daily. Aryan Kushwah too played a key role for Madhya Pradesh and his father, Sunil, also echoed Chauhan's sentiments. "Even when they were not in the camp, the players were asked to send practice videos to Chandu sir. He not only saw those videos but also lent his advice on them. He must be receiving more than 100 videos every day but he made sure he responded to everyone and it's not easy given the responsibilities he has," Sunil Kushwah said. Both players hail from Gwalior and train at Tansen Cricket Academy.
Even as players' parents hailed Pandit for his services, the former Kolkata Knight Riders coach said it's his job to help his wards. "I am humbled but I am only doing my job. Ever since I took over as the head coach of MP, my priority is to give exposure to youngsters and prepare a bench strength and that's what I am doing," Pandit said.
Grooming
Pandit strongly believes in grooming the up and coming players to prepare them for the future challenges. "It's important for these youngsters to play alongside seniors. It not only gives them confidence but also helps them learn new things everyday. That's why we hold a camp for everyone at the Holkar Stadium in Indore during the off season. Be it age-group cricketers or women players or seniors like Venkatesh Iyer or Rajat Patidar. They all train together. They train there from 9:30 AM to 4:30PM. They learn from each other and also share their experiences. This grooming comes handy when they represent their respective teams," Pandit added.
Stint with senior side
Chauhan shared an interesting anecdote related to his son when he was just 14. "Yash was on his way back to Gwalior after attending a camp in Indore when I received a call from the Chambal Division secretary. The office-bearer asked me to stop Yash from travelling back to Gwalior because Chandu sir wanted him to stay with the senior team. It was around 10:30 PM and Yash had reached Dewas. I asked him to get off there and wait for my instruction. Somehow we managed to send a few cops to pick him up and send him back to Indore. That season, he travelled with the senior team and got invaluable experience by just seeing them and spending time with them. Incidentally, MP won the Ranji title that season. That experience must have helped him during the Cooch Behar Trophy as well," said Chauhan.
Pandit said such moves help in developing a youngster as a cricketer. "I usually allow an U16 cricketer to play with the U19 team and an U19 player with the U23 side. This gives them a lot of experience and makes them confident when they graduate to the next level. We have identified a pool of players and are getting them ready to replace their senior counterparts whenever time comes. Kushagra Nagar is one such example. When he was 15, I made him play with the senior team. I also hold a Zoom meeting with all the teams in the evening. This brings us together and helps in sharing our experiences."
Interestingly, Nagar was asked to play the Cooch Behar final and he scored 71 in the second innings to help MP chase a target of 172.
With his U19 wards scripting history, Pandit's next target will be helping Madhya Pradesh senior team qualify for the Ranji quarterfinals. They are currently No 4 on points table in the Group B behind Karnataka, Saurashtra and Maharashtra and a good outing in the next couple of games could help them climb the table and qualify for the knockouts.